'All I had to do was choose the one best suited for India,' he adds.

It was a good thing Volvo had a wide range of products. 'We got the regulation changed,' says Passey. Volvo departed from the industry norm by offering service support for the entire bus, and not just parts'But in India, bus length was capped at 11 metres. Passey points out that inter-city buses are 12 metres long everywhere in the world. Volvo refused to compromise on product specifications. The company approached private operators who ran inter-city 'deluxe' buses and could price tickets higher.

The changing economic landscape strengthened his resolve. When the competition started to close in on Volvo, it introduced products that would increase the number of passengers When Volvo saw that increasing congestion and growing environmental awareness were making public transport attractive, it brought back the city bus Volvo engaged with all stakeholders - from operators to passengers to drivers - to sell its buses Volvo brought in its inter-city bus when it saw the market was not ready for a city bus 'I felt there was little reason why an airconditioned bus would not work in a tropical country like India,' he says. The B7R cost five times more than a 'deluxe' bus. He imported two Volvo B7R inter-city buses from Hong Kong and Singapore, and sent them out on a six-month demonstration drive. Selling to state companies was proving tough, so in 2000, Passey changed tack. The coach prompted more weighty concerns too: were India's roads and travellers ready for rearengine buses? What about prices? Volvo city buses cost up to 10 times more than those used by state transport corporations. 'The older of the two, in an attempt to explain how the bus loses height, said: 'When it halts, the driver jumps out and deflates the tyres',' he says. He laughs, recalling an animated discussion between two youngsters he overheard. Akash Passey, Senior Vice Presidentregion international, Volvo Bus Corporation, who headed India operations then, says many people came to see it at the 1998 Delhi Auto Expo. The Swedish company bid for a tender by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) in 1998 while showcasing its B10LE low-entry city bus in several cities. That is how things were when Volvo Buses entered India.

Volvo bus service